The Senior Special Assistant on Publicity and Communications to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, Mr. Lere Olayinka, has shed new light on the recent confrontation between his principal and a naval officer in Abuja.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Olayinka explained that the incident stemmed from a fraudulent land transaction that deceived former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (retd.), into purchasing land that was never meant for private ownership or development.
According to him, the disputed property located in Mabushi, Abuja, was originally allocated in 2007 to Santos Estate Limited for park and recreation purposes, not for residential or commercial construction.
“That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007, Santos Estate Limited, for park and recreation. The company did not do anything on the land because that place is a parkway, it’s a walkway, it’s a road corridor. You don’t build there,” Olayinka stated.
He revealed that in 2022, the company attempted to change the land’s designated use from park and recreation to commercial, but the FCT Administration rejected the request — and this was before Wike assumed office as minister.
“In 2022, the minister of FCT declined that request. Wike was not the minister then,” he added.
Despite the official rejection, the company allegedly went ahead to illegally subdivide the land and sell it to unsuspecting buyers, including Vice Admiral Gambo.
“Probably in anticipation of the minister’s approval for conversion, the man decided to partition the land and sold it to people, including the former Chief of Naval Staff,” Olayinka explained.
He further alleged that rather than pursuing legal action to resolve the issue, the retired naval officer sought to use his military influence to assert ownership of the property.
“That is why I want to say that the Chief of Naval Staff was scammed. He has realised that he was scammed. Instead of him to now come out and seek help, he resorted to using military might,” Olayinka said.
He questioned why the retired naval chief chose to confront the government instead of the company that sold the illegal property.
“After selling land allocated to you for park and recreation, for people to build a house, who should the Chief of Naval Staff go and hold? The person who’s scammed, or the government? He chose not to hold the person who scammed him — the company who scammed,” he added.
Olayinka clarified that the Mabushi land is designated strictly for public and corporate buildings, not private housing developments.
“That portion of the land, that pathway, is for public buildings and corporate buildings, not residential. Meaning that you cannot build residential houses there,” he emphasized.
He also claimed that Gambo currently lacks valid documentation proving ownership of the land.
“As of today, Vice Admiral Gambo does not have a title document showing that he owns the land. He does not own the land,” Olayinka stated.
Even if the former naval chief did possess a valid title, Olayinka argued, he failed to follow the necessary development control procedures before starting construction.
“Assuming we’re not conceding that he has title documents and he owns the land, before you begin development of a land, there are processes you must pass through. One of such processes is to have a building plan. You take your building plan to the development control for approval,” he explained.
He concluded by challenging the retired officer to show proof of following due process.
“The question Nigerians should ask Vice Admiral Gambo is, did he take his building plan on that land to development control? And did development control approve the building plan?”
The confrontation, which drew public attention earlier in the week, has now taken a new turn with these revelations — pointing to a deeper web of land racketeering and unauthorized conversions within Abuja’s real estate space.